The Process Practice

I created a 48 min. demo video based on a client request that shows how teams can get started collaboratively developing their method plug-ins in Rational Method Composer using Rational ClearCase. It is intended for advanced RMC users and shows how to

• mix content from various sources in Method Composer by utilizing workspace libraries (local IBM content and shared plug-ins in ClearCase)

• manage versions of Method Composer plug-ins in ClearCase

• perform parallel method development work with ClearCase

The demo shown comprises of the following steps:

1. Create a VOB (versioned object base) on the ClearCase server
2. Convert the out-of-the-box method library to a workspace library
3. Create your own method plug-in
4. Create a ClearCase view from within in Method Composer
5. Share your method plug-in in ClearCase
6. How team members check-out and work with method plug-ins and method element

Click here to start the video. It requires that you have the Adobe Flash Player installed for your browser.

This week I had the honor of presenting our work around SPEM 2, Eclipse Process Framework, and Rational Method Composer at the SEE 2008 Conference (Software and Systems Engineering Essential) in Bern. If you are interested to see what this was all about then go here for the abstract and here for the presentation slides.

Do you live in Southern California? If yes, then you could see three RMC development team members (Bruce MacIsaac, Kelli Houston, and myself ) present this Thursday in a free “Rational Comes to You” event the latest around RMC, process modeling, best development practices, and government. The event is hosted by our business partner Noblestar and also features presentations around Noblestar’s approach for realizing enterprise process with RMC, a presentation on Jazz, as well as presentations from UP Mentors on process implementation. Go here for the agenda and to register.

There is a new three part training video available on developerWorks. Part 1 of this demo steps you through downloading and installing a trial copy of Rational® Method Composer, and covers some of the basics of method composition. Part 2 shows how to create the new method content needed to create a method configuration for a Rational Unified Process-based software delivery process. Part 3 defines the delivery process, then shows how to publish the completed configuration to a Web site.

See it here: “Get started with Rational Method Composer”, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

We will be releasing IBM Rational Method Composer version 7.2 very soon. Our incredibly productive development team is hard at work fixing the last few bugs and preparing the release for end of September. This will be the biggest update for this product since its first release. It will support many new capabilities such as Reporting using the Eclipse Birt report designer and engine, a new Process Tailoring perspective for project managers, improved and new integrations with IBM Rational Portfolio Manager and IBM Webshpere Business Modeler as well as many new scalability and usability improvements.

I will use this blog to talk a little bit more about the new capabilities in the next few weeks leading up to the launch. In the meantime, you could check-out the overview presentation to RMC 7.2 that I gave at Rational Software Development Conference (RSDC 07) in June. See the abstract here and download the slides from here.

The slides are inside a 50MB zip file which includes in addition to the PDF file a directory of Flash recordings demo’ing the new feature. To view these recordings just drag them into a web browser. You need to have the Flash Player installed on your machine.

My colleague Ricardo Balduino and I gave an update to what is new and noteworthy in the Eclipse Process Framework. Ricardo gave a general overview to the OpenUP 1.0 release and the revamped eclipse.org/epf Web site and I gave a walkthrough and demo to the new features in EPF Composer 1.2. Check-out the recording of this presentation here. Download just the slides from here.